The Internet is a collection of various networks. As the Internet access lines are growing in speed and bandwidth, multimedia, e.g., video, communication services over the Internet are expected to become more popular. The services generally transfer multimedia including videos and speeches between terminals or between server terminals via the Internet. As an example, HTTP video streaming, such as Flash video, is widely deployed to deliver stored media over the Internet. Modern Media Transport (MMT) comprises the fragmented MP4 file format, the H.264 video codec, HTTP delivery, and a standard way to signal bitrate adaptation from the client. It is desired that streaming of multimedia content within heterogeneous environments have a Universal Multimedia Experience (UME). With developments in media compression and wireless network infrastructures, media streaming has become a promising area of technology for end-users, content providers, wireless and wired network operators, and other entities.
The Internet is a network whose communication quality is not necessarily guaranteed. For this reason, when performing communication using speech and video media, if network bandwidth is narrow or the network is congested between user terminals, the quality of the speech and video media perceived by users, known as the Quality of Experience (QoE), degrades. More specifically, quality degradation in a video is perceived as a blur, smear, mosaic-shaped distortion, and jerky effect in the video. The Quality of Service (QoS) for video communication services over the Internet such as HTTP video streaming may impact the user QoS which is the QoE.
The rapid growth of video traffic and the limitations in communication resources to provision such services present technical and business challenges to wireless operators and wired network operators alike. There is a need for a solution that can handle different throughput and communication resources variations, while preserving QoE for all users as much as possible.